Braiding machine



S t. l 642 785 ep 20 1927 R. E. MCFARLAND BRAIDING MACHINE:

Filed Aug. 18, 1924 .2 Sheets-Sheet 1- nHHH UNHNHMMHIHIIIIIHHIIFIII .Il

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l Sept' 20.' 1927 R. E. MCFARLAND BRAIDING MACHINE Filed Aug. 18, 1924 2 sheets-sheet 2 fit) Patented sept. zo, 1927.

UNITED STTES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT ERNEST MCFARLAND, OF CICERO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO WESTERN ELEC- l{[RIC COMPANY, INCORPORATED, OF NEV YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

BRAIDING MACHINE.

Application led August 18, 1924. Serial No. 732,821.

This invention relates to braiding machines and more particularly to a machine for covering a core.

rihe electrical apparat-us and sivitchboards employed in telephone exchanges usually are interconnected by cables composed of a plurality of electrical conductors foi-ming a. core Which is sheathed by a braided textile cover. In order to meet the requirement-s of the svvitchboards and apparatus it is frequently advantageous to employ cables of this nature having noncircular cross sectional contours. Due to the restricted space, in some instances, it is necessary to use a cable of substantially rectangular4 cross section the thickness of the cable being so'sinall compared With its Width that the cable is called a flat type7 cable. In braiding a covery upon a switchboard cable core of circular cross .section of one type it has been found advantageous from a quality and production standpoint to use What is termed five stranded or live end cotton thread, but when braiding a cover upon a substantially flat cable core of the same type, which cover Will havev the saine quality and capable of being pro-` duc-ed at substantially the same speed, it is advantageous tc use what is termed sii: stranded or six end cotton thread.

To use a` five stranded thread in covering` a flatcore and produce substantially the same linear feet of braided cable per minute as compared to the circular type of core Would result in an open braid of poor qualit-y, since the speed of the capstan in use in covering the flat type of core is greater than When covering the. circular type of core.. To opera-te a braiding machine. using a braiding` head of any suitable type for braid-V ing a cover' for either a circular or flat type core, it is necessary, due to the difference inA contours between these tivo types of'cores,

to change the head and. capstan speeds (or. R. P. for each type of core to p'roduce For example, in particular instances it has been found ad?` the before mentioned. results.

vantageous in covering a circular core to drive t-lie head at a speed of 141.4 R. l). M. and thecapstan at a speed of 1.2745 R. l?. M. toV produce a cover at a linear speed of 6.250 feet per minute using five end cotton threads and with a flat type core the head was driven at a speed of 119.8 R. l). M. and

the capstan at a speed of 1.6167 R. P. M. to produce a cover of substantially the saine quality at a linear speed of 7.988 feet per minute using siX end cotton threads.

Heretofore, in practice, to make the necessary changes in the driving mechanism of a braiding machine to give the above listed results, it has been necessary to tear dovvn the machine to change the gear ratio, this frequently 'requiring a considerable amount of time, during which the machine of course is idle.

An object of this invention is to provide a braiding machine in which the speeds of the braiding means and of the material kmay be readily and simultaneously varied.

Another object of this invent-ion isto pro` vide a machine for covering a core which may be readily adapted for covering cores of different cross-sectional contours.

Inaccordance With the general features of the invention a braiding machine is provided With a` device for simultaneously and selectively changing the speeds of operation of the braiding head and the capstan to produce substantially the .saine quality of covering, depending upon the type of cable core.

Other features and advantages of the present invention Will become apparent in the following detailed description and will be particularly pointed out inthe appended claims. t K

The accompanying drawings illustrate one embodiment of the inventioinin which Fig. 1 is a Afragi'nentary front elevation of a multi-unit braiding machine for covering cable core embodying the features of the invention with standard Vtfa'rdwell braiding heads shown diagrammatically; l

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view through the speed changing device of a braiding unit, showing the interconnected drive to the capstan and braiding head;

Fig. 3. is a fragmentary plan sectional vieiv taken upon the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, showing the drive between the shaft carrying the speed changing `device and the main drive shaft, and Y y Fig. 4: is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken uponthe line fl-4 of Fig. 2V looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

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As illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings, the invention is shown applied to a multivunit braiding machine for covering cable core and although only two ofthe braiding heads are shown diagrammatically at for convenience of illustration, it will be readily understood that the number may vary and also that the complete machine mounted upon a single supporting frame 11 may coinprise two 'rows of heads 10 positioned back to back.

Mounted upon the top of thel frame 11 near one end of the machine is a motor (not shown) which is suitably connected to a main drive shaft 13 which extends the entire length of the machine and which is normally rotated at a constant speed. Through suitable coupling means indicated generally by the numeral 14, and to be described in greater detail hereafter, the heads 10 and eapstans 16 for drawing the covered core from the braiding headsy 10 are operated at certain relative speeds, depending upon the type of core to be covered, as heretofore eX- plained.

A supply reel 18 and a take-up reel 19 are suitably positioned side by side in line with and directly under each braiding head and near the floor lin-e where they may be quickly and easily mounted upon or removed from their supporting` or driving spindles. The take-up reel 19 is suitably driven from the before mentioned motor through means not shown.

)When the machine is composed of a plurality of braiding units as illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings, the main drive shaft 13 is constantly driven and at each braiding unit a suitable friction clutch indicated generally by the numeral 2O (Fig. is provided so that each unit may be set in operation and stopped by an operator without interfering with the other units of the machine. Stiitably secured to the driven ineinber 21 of each clutch 2() is a. gear 22 which meshes with a gear 23 secured to a shouldered jack shaft 25, journaled `in bearings 26 formed in a housing 27 (Figs. 1 and 2). Keyed to rotate with the shaft but longitudinally slidable thereon is a jaw 'clutch 28 shown in the drawings (Figs. 2 and 3) as engaging a bevel gear 29 which is free to rota-te upon the shaft 25. The jaw clutch 28 upon being moved to the left as viewed in Fig. 2 is adapted to engage a bevel gear 31 affixed to a sleeve 32 free to rotate upon a reduced portion 33 of the shaft 25. Also mounted upon the sleeve* 32 in a manner similar to the aw clutch 28 and bevel gear 29 carried upon the shaft 25 is a second jaw clutch 34 and a bevel gear 35, the clutch 34 being adapted upon a movement to the left as vie-wed in Fig. 2 to engage a bevel gea-r 37 aiiiXed to a second sleeve 39 free to rotate upon a further reduced portion 404 of the shaft 25. The bevel gears 29 and 31 are interconnected by bevel gears 41 and 42, also the bevel gears and 37 by bevel gears43 and 44. Aflixed to the sleeve 32 intermediate the bevel gears 31 and 35 is a sprocket wheel 46 connected to a second sprocket wheel 48 bya sprocket chain 49. The wheel 48 is secured to a shaft 50 which is journaled at one end in al housing 51 suspended from the housing`27 and enclosing the chain 49 and at its opposite end in a suitable bearing (not shown) for operatively connecting the shaft with the braiding head 1G. Secured to rotate with the sleeve 39 is a. worm 55 which meshes with a worin wheel 56 secured upon a shaft 57. The rota-tion of the shaft 57 is transmitted to a shaft 58 which is rotated at a. suitable ratio by gearing indicated generally by the numeral 59 which is operatively connected by suitable gearing (not shown) to the 'capstan 16. A detailed illustration and description of the gearing for connecting the shafts 50 and 58 with 'the braid-ing head 10 and capstan 16, respect-ively, has been omitted for the sake of simplicity, since it is not necessary to aV complete understanding of the present invention.

Shifting forks for the jaw clutches 28 and 34 are indicated at 61 and 62, respectively, which are operatively connected together by a. link rod 63. Suitably connected to the right hand end of the rod 63 asviewed in Fig. 2 is a vertically ext-ending hand lever 64 which is pivotally supported intermediate its ends upon the housing 27 66. A suitable opening is provided in the housing 27 for the lower end of the lever 64 which eX- tends downward to a` point within easy reach of an operator (Fig: 1) Upon a movement of the hand lever 64 about its pivot 66 in a counter-clockwise direction it will readily be seen that the jaw clutches 28 and 34 will be shifted to the left thereby disengaging them from the bevel Igears 29 and 35 and engaging them with the.' bevel gears 31 and 37, respectively.

As shown in the drawings the position of i the clutch jaws 28 and 34 indicate that the machine is set for braiding a. cover upon a flat type of cable core. This position of ther jaws provide for driving the capstan at a relatively grater speed of operation than when working upon a. circular type of cable core. At the same time provision is made for reducingthe speed of operation of the braiding head relative to the required speed thereof when working upon a circular type of cable core. v I

The operation of this speed changingY device with the clutch jaws 28 and 34 en for worlring'upon a flat type of cable 'core as shown, is as follows: y

As explained heretofore by engaging the clutch 20 with the gear 22 power is transmitted to the jack shaft 25 through the gear 23 carried thereon meshing with the gear 22 secured to the driven member 21 of the clutch 20. rIhe rotation of the shaft 25 is transmitted through the aw clutch 28 to the bevel gear 29 mounted free upon the shaft 25, and thence through the cooperating gears 11, 42, and 31 to the sleeve 32'which has keyed thereto the sprocket wheel 46 which as heretofore described drives the braiding head 10. The jaw clutch 34 being keyed to the sleeve 32 causes the rotation of the bevel gear 35 mounted free upon the sleeve 32. The rotation of the gear 35 is transmitted to the worm 55 through the cooperating gears 13, 114, and 37 and the sleeve 39. rlhe worm 55 through the worm wheel 56, gearing 58, and shaft 59 as heretofore described drives the capstan 16. 1When a circular type of cable core is to be Worked upon the hand lever 64 is turned about its pivot G6 in a counter-clockwise direction, which movement causes the jaw clutches 28 and 34 to be moved longitudinally upon the shaft 25 and sleeve 32, respectively, toI engage the bevel gears 31 and 37, respectively. With this engagement of the jaw clutches power is transmitted from the shaft 25 to the gears 31 and 37 directly and through the sleeve 32 upon which the gear 31 is carried. rIhe sprocket wheel 46 mounted upon the sleeve 32 drives the shaft 50 and as heretofore described causes the braiding head 10 to be driven. Vhen the device has been operated to the position just described for use in vcovering a circular type of cable core the gears 29, al and 12 associated with the jaw clutch 28 and the gears 35, 43, and @t4 associated with the jaw clutch 34, merely run idle upon their axes.

In the operation of the speed changing device as heretofore described it will readily be seen that means is provided for simultaneously and selectively changing the actual as well as the relative speeds ofl operation of the braiding head and the capstan by merely operating the hand lever 611. It will be understood that to give any particular relative change in speeds of operation between the head and capstan upon shifting the jaw clutches in one direction or the other, it is only necessary to provide the desired gearing between the jaw clutches 28 and 34 and the sleeves 32 and 39, respectively.

Although the preferred embodiment of the invention herein described is .designed for a.1nulti-unit braiding machine, it Will be evident that in the application of this speed changing device to a braiding machine coinprising a single unit the device would be associated with the shaft corresponding to the -shaft 13 Which is driven direct by the motor, thereby not necessitating the use of a ack shaft.

What is claimed is:

1. In a braiding machine, means for braiding material on different shaped cores, means for causing a relative movement between material to be braided and the braiding means, and means for simultaneously changing the speeds of the first and second mentioned means in accordance with the shape of the core being covered with said braided material.

2. In a braiding machine, material braiding means, means for receiving the braided material, driving means for said braiding and receiving means, said means comprising a constant -speed drive shaft, a plurality of sleeves free to rotate thereon, a clutch device mounted upon said shaft, a second clutch device mounted upon one of said sleeves, gearing associated with said shaft, sleeves and clutches, said shaft and sleeves adapted to be either directly connected together by said clutch devices or through said gearing whereby the relative speeds of operation of said braiding and receiving means may be varied, and means for simultaneously operating said clutches.

3. In a braiding machine, means for braiding material on differently shaped cores, means for causing a relative movement between the braided core and the braiding means, and means for changing the speed of the two first mentioned means in accordance with the shape of the core.

4:. In a braiding machine, material braiding means, means for receiving the braided material, driving means for said braiding and receiving means comprising, a driving shaft, a sprocket wheel mounted on said shaft for driving the braiding means, a gear wheel mounted on said shaft for driving the receiving means, means for driving said sprocket wheel and said gear wheel in unison, and means for driving said sprocket wheel and said gear Wheel at different speeds.

5. In a braiding machine, material braiding means, means for receiving the braided material, driving means for said braiding and receiving means comprising, a driving shaft, a sprocket whe-el mounted on said shaft for driving the braiding means, a gear wheel mounted on said shaft for driving the receiving means, airs of bevel gears mounted on the shaft, and means for driving the sprocket wheel and gear wheel directly with the shaft'or through said bevel gears.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 5th day of August, A. D. 1924.

.ROBERT ERNEST MCFARLAND. 

